Gartner Unveils Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25

Gartner has unveiled the 16th instalment of its annual Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25, which recognises healthcare systems in the US demonstrating strong leadership in the supply chain space.

For the first time ever, AdventHealth claims top spot on the 2024 list, rising two places from 2023. Stanford Health Care, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Corewell Health and Banner Health complete the top five.

Marisa Farabaugh, SVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer at AdventHealth, said she was "speechless" upon discovering her company had topped the rankings.

She added: "It would be an understatement to say it takes a team – it takes an incredible team working across so many areas, connecting dots and leaning into the work. It takes all parts of AdventHealth willing to work side-by-side with the supply chain and business services teams, trusting us and working through hard issues. This is how we tackle the hard work; this is how we move forward."

Greater emphasis on risk management

Gartner's Healthcare Supply Chain Top 25 combines hard data with industry expert feedback.

The data measurements assess several key areas: financial stability, quality of patient care, environmental and social responsibility, risk handling and supply chain operations. Meanwhile, industry experts separately evaluate leadership across the value chain and overall supply chain effectiveness.

These two components – data and expert assessment – are merged to create an overall ranking score.

New for 2024 is an added quantitative risk management metric, which takes into account and acknowledges the how healthcare organisations approach and manage risk as a critical factor in their performance.

Twelve health systems in the Top 25 received a score of 10 out of 10 for risk management.

“In 2024, health system supply chains have been strained and service has been impacted by ongoing disruption, from natural disasters to port closures, especially in recent months,” comments Eric O’Daffer, Vice President Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice.

“Amid a challenging environment, leading health systems have placed a greater emphasis on risk management while continuing to build improved capabilities in their supply chains by prioritising clinical alignment, increasing organisational collaboration and accelerating the digital supply chain.”

Key healthcare themes

A trio of key themes emerged as Gartner carried its analyses for the Top 25 list. 

Resurgence of clinical treatment 

Top healthcare providers are making renewed efforts to boost clinical operations through better processes, new technology and integrated systems. They're equipping medical staff with advanced tools to spot unnecessary supply variations between facilities and practitioners.

The overarching goal here is to reduce costs while maintaining high-quality patient care.

“We have found a lack of investment in the clinical side of supply chain operations by most organisations, with only 3% of the overall supply chain budget allocated to the clinical side,” notes Eric.

"The Top 25 Healthcare Supply Chains invest a higher percentage to work more closely with clinical areas. These efforts include managing preference/procedure cards, controlling inventory, reducing unnecessary variations and tracking costs per case."

Improving span of control

Data shows healthcare supply chains only manage 72% of organisational spending, leaving 28% outside central control. The situation is more pronounced in smaller health systems (those with under US$5bn in patient revenue), where unmanaged spending reaches 38%.

Leading organisations are tackling this by expanding supply chain influence through better organisational teamwork. This has led to supply chain teams having greater input in spending decisions across more areas, including pharmaceuticals, IT and various contracted services.

Accelerating the digital supply chain 

Healthcare providers are rapidly adopting digital technologies to modernise their supply chain operations, implementing warehouse automation, robotics and AI-powered inventory management systems.

This ongoing shift toward digital solutions is improving operational efficiency, reducing costs and ultimately enhancing patient care quality.

The Top 25 in full

1. AdventHealth
2. Stanford Health Care
3. Bon Secours Mercy Health
4. Corewell Health
5. Banner Health
6. Northwestern Medicine
7. Rush Health
8. BJC Healthcare
9. CommonSpirit Health
10. Advocate Health
11. Oschner Health
12. Sutter Health
13. Allina Health
14. Trinity Health
15. Inova
16. Johns Hopkins Medicine
17. Baylor Scott & White Health
18. Henry Ford Health
19. Endeavor Health
20. UPMC
21. St. Luke’s Health System
22. Ascension
23. BayCare Health System
24. HCA Healthcare
25. Vanderbilt Health

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